“McConnell Ends Bid to Ease Campaign Law As Part of Omnibus Appropriations Measure”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has backed off for now on an effort to loosen campaign finance regulations as part of a deal with Senate Democrats to fund the government through an omnibus appropriations bill, according to groups supporting campaign regulation that opposed the McConnell effort.

McConnell stopped pushing for a provision to lift long-standing limits on political party campaign spending after the proposal was opposed by top Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) and Rules Committee Chairman Charles Schumer (N.Y.)….Supporters of campaign regulation indicated Dec. 2 that they were pleased the McConnell proposal had been blocked but wary that the incoming Senate majority leader would renew efforts to roll back limits on campaign money when Republicans take over the Senate following the current, lame-duck session.

Essay: Race or Party, Race as Party, or Party All the Time: Three Uneasy Approaches to Conjoined Polarization in Redistricting and Voting Cases, William and Mary Law Review (forthcoming 2018) (draft available)

After Scalia: The Future of United States Election Law, America-Ho (in Japanese, forthcoming 2016)